2006 Grant Recipient List

Artist Initiative Grants

Media arts/new media

Number of grants awarded: 10
Total dollars granted: $57,900

Tony Brown,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to explore and learn new interactive technologies
and research the latest software for multi-layered video and
computer graphics; the research and knowledge of technology
will inform his first evening-length work “ZANSVILLE
USA”

Charles Doerr, Saint Paul
$6,000; to film on location for his second film, “Man
Made of Gold,” which takes place during the Civil War;
the film will use minimal language and explore landscapes
as a means to captivate and evoke feelings in the viewer

Melody
Gilbert, Saint Paul
$6,000; to travel to Australia and Paris to finish her film
about the subculture of urban exploration

Jila Nikpay,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to research, film, and transfer her current project
“Rhythm of Tides” from film to video

Cuong Phan, Collegeville
$6,000; to travel to Vietnam to seek out and interview Amerasians
that are still living in Vietnam and to record their stories

Thomas Schroeder, Minneapolis
$6,000; for a portion of production costs for his ten-minute,
35mm animated film adapted from Jay Orff’s short story
“Bear Paw”

Jason Wade, Minneapolis
$4,900; for motion picture production equipment that will
enable him to experiment with new ideas in his creative development
of work

John Whitehead, Saint Paul
$6,000; for travel related to his documentary about the rise
and fall of the Black banjo tradition

Jake Yuzna,
Minneapolis
$5,000; to delve into a more complex character-based drama
“Am I Normal”

Music

Number of grants awarded: 13
Total dollars awarded: $71,000

Julieta Avarado, Marshall
$6,000; to research and link her Latin American music to its
roots in Spain and Spanish Baroque music, particularly Andalusian
music and, specifically, that of Seville

Mary Ellen
Childs, Minneapolis
$6,000; to create a CD recording of her full evening work
Dream House, a piece for string quartet in thirteen movements
based on themes of destruction and creation, cycles of time,
and rhythms of work

Anthony
W. Cox, Coon Rapids
$6,000; to investigate the intersections of harmony, color,
rhythm, and texture in visual and music disciplines; and collaborate
with a visual artist to create a performance of sound and
image to be presented at Red Eye Theater

Desdamona,
Burnsville
$3,300; to promote her latest CD in larger venues in New York,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and to expand her audience
base and collaborate with other artists

Timothy W. Ericksen,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to travel to Sand Mountain (Alabama) to study and
explore further the nuances of shape-note singing, and spend
time with the country’s most active shape-note singers

Maud N. Hixson,
Mendota Heights
$3,200; to attend the Cabaret Conference at Yale University;
the conference, through a collaborative process of critical
refining and honing, will enhance the artistic quality of
her work

David A. Krejci,
Minneapolis
$5,500; to study the architecture of spider webs in detail
to look for evidence of the orchestral sound that mathematically
occurs with the threads of the web and, based on that information,
create a new instrument—the arachnophone

Rass Kwame,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to explore the melding of rhythms and melodies, and
write lyrics for his new project, “Ananse Stories”

Jeffrey C. Lambert,
Minneapolis
$5,000; to commission a composer to write new works to fit
his style of playing, and record a CD of his new solo work
for guitar

Billy McLaughlin,
White Bear Lake
$6,000; to complete the final level of retraining on his instrument
and to return to the recording studio and concert stage

Daniel Rieppel, Marshall
$6,000; to study, practice, research, and then perform in
recital all of the piano and violin sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart in honor of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s
birth

Joko Sutrisno,
Saint Paul
$6,000; to research, compose, arrange, and produce “Tobat”
(Discovering), a 30-minute gamelan music production for performance

Ross
M. Sutter, Minneapolis
$6,000; to travel to Sweden to collect and study Swedish music

Photography

Number of grants awarded: 16
Total dollars awarded: $84,000

Sara A. Belleau, Minneapolis
$5,000; to develop and complete her current body of work exploring
the myths, symbols, and archetypes people use to define themselves

Peter
A. Latner, Minneapolis
$5,500; for travel throughout Plains states to complete a
portfolio of photography for both exhibition and publishing
possibilities

Brian
M. Lesteberg, Minneapolis
$4,500; for materials and framing for an exhibition of his
photographs on migration

Michael A. Melman, Minneapolis
$6,000; for travel expenses associated with living on-site
for extended periods of time in order to search for and photograph
his work

Paulette M. Myers-Rich, Saint Paul
$4,500; to document and print large-scale representations
of her work on place and the meanings inherent in landscape
and architecture for an exhibition at the Katharine Nash Gallery

Scott
A. Nedrelow, Ely
$6,000; for supplies and materials to explore production in
large-scale format

Angela D. Strassheim, Minneapolis
$5,500; to obtain proper equipment to create new work for
a solo exhibition in New York

Suzanne
E. Szucs, Duluth
$6,000; to begin research and work on a new project that directly
addresses the themes of death and regeneration

Keith
M. Taylor, Minneapolis
$6,000; to research local landmarks and their surroundings;
and for materials to shoot, print, and exhibit the photographs

Thomas N. Wik, Minneapolis
$6,000; to continue his exploration of free form designs in
residential environments and to produce a larger body of work
for exhibition

Poetry

Number of grants awarded: 11
Total dollars awarded: $56,000

Naomi
J. Cohn, Saint Paul
$4,400; to research, draft, and refine a cycle of poems using
museums, parks, and museum objects as touchstones for writing
about memories of her father

John
A. Colburn, Minneapolis
$6,000; to continue work on a series of poems titled “Earth
Language and the Scientific American.” The poems aim
to create geography of sacred spaces via the use of folklore,
history, myth, and the images of daily life

Mark
Conway, Avon
$4,700; for time to write, and to fund a reading tour to promote
his recently published book

Lightsey
L. Darst, Minneapolis
$2,000; to focus on completing a manuscript she began two
years ago

Sarah
Fox, Minneapolis
$6,000; to tour and promote her book Because Why in regions
beyond the Twin Cities

Alex R. Lemon,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to write a chapbook of poems based on the intersection
between faith and human fallibility

Brandon
M. Lussier, Minneapolis
$5,700; to attend the New York State Summer Writers Institute
to study with writer Henri Cole and to do close readings and
thorough annotation of long poems

LouAnn
Shepard Muhm, Park Rapids
$6,000; to complete a poetry manuscript and to attend a writer’s
workshop to enhance her writing

Jude
Nutter, Edina
$5,000; to focus on the formal and aesthetic concerns of her
new body of work

Francine M. Tolf, Minneapolis
$5,000; to concentrate on honing her style, taking poetic
risks, and struggling with material she has not yet had the
courage or inclination to deal with

Susan
K. Yuzna, Minneapolis
$5,200; to revisit places of her childhood and record her
impressions and memories in order to juxtapose those memories
with the physical places as they look now

Prose

Number of grants awarded: 22
Total dollars granted: $111,000

Me-K Ahn, Minneapolis
$6,000; to conduct research, and work with mentor Korean-American
novelist and writing professor Heinz Insu Fenkl, on a new
novel based on her experiences living and working in Seoul,
South Korea

Heidi J. Arneson,
Minneapolis
$5,800; for research and time to complete “The Flying
Boy,” a full-bodied short story revolving around Minnesota
and Iowa, and to enable her transition from performance writing
to prose

David C. Bernardy, Minneapolis
$3,000; for research in Everglades National Park and the key
heritage museum resources of southern Florida to enhance his
stories, and to help him prepare his first book, From Strength
to Strength, for publication

Jill L. Boyles, Eagan
$6,000; to take time to analyze and edit her in-progress stories
extensively

Anne E. Campisi, Saint Paul
$6,000; to build on her recent winning of the James Jones
First Novel Fellowship by traveling to Australia for final
research and editing of her book, The Lime Tree, and establish
literary contacts in anticipation of a book tour

Martin L. Cozza, Minneapolis
$6,000; to complete and to begin to market his short story
collection, “Nervous Postures of Men in Love,”
and to attend the Sewanee Writers’ Conference in Sewanee,
Tennessee

Meta C. Gaertnier, Golden Valley
$6,000; to revise for publication the current draft of Braver
Than We Know, a book-length memoir

Kathleen A. Glasgow, Saint Paul
$3,600; for feedback and critique to revise and prepare her
novel for publication

Jennifer L. Johnson, Saint Paul
$5,000; to research and write her non-fiction manuscript on
the prairie restoration project at Glacial Ridge Wildlife
Refuge in northeastern Minnesota

Stephanie N. Johnson, Minneapolis
$5,400; to research and write a memoir, and participate in
community workshops at The Loft Literary Center for feedback

Hannah E. Kaplan, Minneapolis
$1,600; to finish her short story “Smoking Girl,”
and to give her the opportunity to explore writing longer
pieces of work

Ed Bok Lee,
Minneapolis
$6,000; to take a five-month leave of absence from teaching
to finish the
last part of his manuscript of stories

Laurie E. Lindeen, Edina
$6,000; to travel to several cities in the United States,
and to London, England, to promote her new book Petal Pusher,
which was recently purchased by a publisher

John T. Medeiros,
Minneapolis
$2,000; to purchase a computer, and research the third and
final portion of his memoir about the quest for individuality
in the world of twins

Mattox D.
Roesch, Minneapolis
$6,000; to travel to Unalakleet, Alaska, to polish the authentic
details of his novel and to research examples of undiagnosed
mental illness and preventable suicides

Joan
Rothfuss, Minneapolis
$5,000; to explore the personal affects the avant-garde cellist
Charlotte Moorman, which are currently archived at the Northwestern
University Library in Evanston, and write a biography of Moorman

Christopher J. Szarke, Minneapolis
$6,000; to purchase a new computer and printer, to create
a Web site, to continue researching the details of his memoir,
and to attend a writing workshop to enhance his skills and
expand his personal contacts

Joni L. Tevis, Minneapolis
$5,000; to travel to Virginia and Massachusetts for research
and inspiration for her book of lyric essays, The Wet Collection

Joseph J. Tougas, North Mankato
$4,700; for time, travel, and literary assistance to complete
his first book of fiction

Andrea M. Worth, Little Canada
$4,000; to further her growth as a writer and to complete
a high quality, book-length work of short stories

Jenna
Zark, Lauderdale
$6,000; to create a second book for young adults, based in
Minnesota, and to attend a national writers conference